


Star Gazing

by Officer_Jennie



Series: Tumblr Drabbles [16]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Gen, Pre-Konoha Village, Warring States Period (Naruto)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-07
Updated: 2019-01-07
Packaged: 2019-10-06 08:04:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17341676
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Officer_Jennie/pseuds/Officer_Jennie
Summary: Hashirama drags his little brother out to stare at the stars and gush about his hopes and dreams.Or: Dreaming runs in the Senju family, and Tobirama finds himself once again enabling it





	Star Gazing

“Anija, I have paperwork due in the morning!”

His weak protests went completely ignored, Hashirama tugging him along up the hill just behind their compound. The air was chilled with the coming autumn, making Tobirama wish he’d at least been given the time to grab a different shirt. But his brother had barged into his home office with no warning, as he was wont to do, with demands of brotherly bonding and fresh air and star gazing.

Running the clan apparently meant nothing in the face of quality time with one’s sibling. Tobirama scowled down at his older brother, who had flopped down with little grace and was currently beaming up at him, patting the damp grass next to him in invitation.

“You work too hard, otouto. An hour or two won’t kill you.”

“An hour or two?” His incredulous stare didn’t detour the great oaf, who snatched up his hand and pulled him down onto the ground.

“It’s called a break, and it’s good for you.” The grass itched at his arms as he was pushed down, Hashirama laying next to him with a pleased sigh. “Besides, you  _like_  star gazing. Remember?”

It took a moment to figure out what he was referring to, and the flood of memories made him swallow hard.

Tobirama had never really cared for star gazing. He’d still done it quite a lot in their childhood, dragged out at night in secret, whispering in order to not be caught. It had been Kawarama who’d loved the past time, who had loved everything to do with stars and astronomy. They had made it a weekly ritual, mapping out what constellations they could, ink dried and cracking on their hands and stolen candles to light their parchment.

After Kawarama had passed, weekly had turned to nightly for Tobirama, despite how uninteresting the stars had always been to him. After so many years at war, he’d forgotten that old habit of his, how he’d desperately grasped at anything that reminded him of his lost brothers.

He didn’t have the heart to tell Hashirma the truth. Instead, he scooted closer to his brother, shivering against more than the cold and comforted by the warm body at his side.

“I sent another missive to Madara.”

Tobirama heaved a sigh, tilting his head to glare at the dark blob where his brother’s head was. “Stop bothering. He’s not going to reply.”

He felt Hashirama shift next to him, fidgeting. “I can’t just give up on him. It was  _our_  dream, you know. To build a village. To stop the war.”

“Don’t start with that nonsense again.” He huffed, leaning to rest his head against his brother’s shoulder. Such dreams of peace were meant for children, not blooded soldiers and war veterans. As much as he hoped for an end to the deaths and battlefields, both nightmares that left him shaking and screaming during even the good nights, neither of them had the time to dream of such a happy ending.

They had responsibilities now. People who depended on them. And any weakness, whether it be a foolish hope of a better future or not, could lead to cold steel at their throats and the fall of the Senju clan.

“Hope isn’t nonsense, otouto.” Hashirama probably couldn’t see his eyes roll, dark as it was, but it didn’t stop Tobirama from doing so anyway. “Wouldn’t it be nice? We could build a hospital, and an academy for all the children. And we could even have a library! You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”

Normally, Tobirama would have taken that as an opportunity to scold his brother further. Remind him that he wasn’t a  _child_  anymore, and had people he had to lead. But something about his tone reminded him of Kawarama’s bright eyes, how their youngest brother had whispered excitedly about his own dream of wandering the different countries with only their star maps as guides, to see if there were other constellations they couldn’t see from their compound.

“It’s a good dream.” He closed his eyes, feeling his nose brush against the soft fabric of his brother’s worn clothing. Hashirama’s happy babbling droned on next to him, but he couldn’t make out the words passed the tightness in his throat.

He’d said the same thing to Kawarama, once, on this same hill. He could only hope Hashirama would live to make his own dreams come true.

**Author's Note:**

> From anon over on tumblr: "HashiTobi prompt? Number 6: things you say under the stars in the grass."


End file.
